Diane Keaton's Beverly Hills home for sale for $11,995,000

The Oscar-winning Keaton buys and refurbishes Los Angeles-area homes. This one, originally designed in 1927 by architect Ralph Flewelling, has been painstakingly restored.

The home features an inner courtyard with a fountain separating the kitchen and family room on one side from the media room, den and staircase leading to the upstairs. It has thruway arches in the living and dining rooms.

There are seven bedrooms and nine bathrooms in 7,145 square feet. The master suite has dual bathrooms. There is a separate guest suite. The home has a pool, and the yard has pathways lined with olive trees. Think classy.

Keaton, 63, whose acting breakthrough came in Woody Allen films -- "Annie Hall" (1977), "Play It Again, Sam" (1972), "Sleeper" (1973) -- also appeared in the "Godfather" movies, "Father of the Bride" (1991), "The First Wives Club" (1996) and many TV and other feature films.

Keaton's acting career has been interspersed with her home- and building-preservation efforts. She is a member of America's National Trust for Historic Preservation.

She told Preservation magazine in 2003, "Houses enrich our lives with their history and the beauty of the architecture or their eccentricity, the details. You have to try to preserve some originals."

Aileen Comora and Paul Lester, both of Westside Estate Agency in Beverly Hills, share the listing, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

Actor to part with Sierra Madre gem

Howard Newly, the character whom actor Kevin Dunn plays on ABC's " Samantha Who?," is a man of few words, unless it's about chickens, and then he has plenty to say. Now Dunn has dropped the price of his Sierra Madre house from $1,148,000 to $1,075,000 -- not exactly chicken feed.

The two-level home was built in 1890 and has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms in a charm-filled 2,621 square feet. Some materials in the home were rescued from a historic local monastery -- the Passionist Fathers' retreat.

There are built-in banquettes in the front and entertainment rooms. The living room has a wood-burning stove. There is a downstairs library. The country kitchen offers an O'Keefe & Merritt six-burner double-oven stove, a butcher-block counter from a local fudge shop and a breakfast area with built-in booths and benches. The master bedroom has a fireplace, and there are mountain views from the master balcony, backyard and office deck.

The home has a saltwater pool and spa, and the 12,297-square-foot lot includes a grape vine, two vegetable gardens and fruit trees. There is also a soundproof music studio in the backyard.

Dunn, 53, renovated the property from an original 900-square-foot cottage. He has owned it for almost two decades. He learned carpentry in Chicago, where he worked in theater for more than a dozen years.

Dunn played Mark Nash in the feature film "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008). He has appeared in 25 episodes of "Samantha Who?" and has been seen in "All the King's Men" (2006), "Boston Legal" (2006) and two episodes of "Prison Break" in 2007.

Dexter Scott King, the second son of slain civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., just sold an ocean-view Malibu house for $1.99 million. It had been listed at $2,595,000.

The architectural home has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms in 4,705 square feet. King lived in the home for several years, but it had been most recently used as a rental.

The property sits on 2.7 wooded acres and has views from nearly every room. It is gated, has an open floor plan with high ceilings and bamboo floors throughout. There are fireplaces in the den and master bedroom suite, and the kitchen is equipped with Viking stainless-steel appliances. The property is a short drive from the ocean.

King, 48, chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence and Social Change in Atlanta, is also the author of "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir."

According to the MLS, Rick Dunlap and Brett Kozma, both of Coldwell Banker, Malibu Colony office, were the listing agents, and J.D. Songstad of Re/Max Marquee Partners, Santa Monica, represented the buyer.

She has ideas for the sale party

Tawny Kitaen, who costarred with Tom Hanks in "Bachelor Party," has listed her Newport Beach home at $3.45 million.

The house, with 4,371 square feet, has five bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. It is in a guard-gated community and has hand-hewn hardwood and stone floors.

There are high ceilings, crown moldings and French doors that open to the yard. The cook's kitchen has a center island, a breakfast area, granite counters and top-of-the-line appliances. The two-story home was built in 1983.

Kitaen, 47, played Hanks' bride-to-be in the 1984 "Bachelor Party" movie. She has worked steadily on TV and in the movies since then, getting much ink for a Whitesnake video she made in which she rolls around the hood of a Jaguar doing splits. She also had a much-publicized divorce from Major League Baseball pitcher Chuck Finley.

Robert Hurwitz of Hurwitz James Co. has the listing.

A new chapter for buyer and seller

Update: Bestselling author James Arthur Ray has purchased the Beverly Hills home of former USC and NFL quarterback Rodney Peeteand his actress wife, Holly Robinson Peete, according to a spokesman for the buyer. The home had been listed at $4.25 million and sold for $4 million.

Ray, 51, is the author of "Harmonic Wealth." He is also a motivational speaker and has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and CNN's "Larry King Live."

Barbara and Nicelle Robinson, both of Hilton & Hyland, Beverly Hills, had the listing. The buyer was represented by Dara Allen of Gibson International.